What is new about Chevron’s new fund?
The investment focus for Future Energy Fund will be different from our earlier funds. It will be focused on technologies that enable emissions reduction in oil and gas operations as well as investments in technologies that may break through or disrupt the energy vertical in the future. We have had investments in this space in the past, but having a parallel fund in our organisation brings specific focus to this area. We will, however, manage the fund using the practices we have developed over nearly 20 years.
Is Chevron’s commercial deployment of venture-backed technologies still the ultimate end game?
Our model is to add value to Chevron through being an on-ramp for promising innovators. We find, evaluate and integrate external startup technologies into Chevron. That will not change.
In Europe, energy corporate VCs are increasingly being tasked with helping their parent companies grow their low-carbon and electric mobility businesses. How does it differ for Chevron?
Our objectives for the Future Energy Fund are consistent with our corporate views on the expectations for our industry. We enable human progress by supplying safe, affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy.
Chevron Technology Ventures has been active for about 20 years. Is there a cyclical element to the future energy investment theme?
We have watched this space for a long time and have played in some areas before. That experience makes us better informed today. We have monitored the cost curves, the scaling opportunities and the impact of policies. So it is not about us joining a new cycle. We simply believe that now is the right time to build on our participation. And we have become smarter about what it takes to be successful in this area.
In one of your portfolio businesses – Maana – you have co-invested with fellow energy CVCs, but also with Accenture Ventures and new Chinese CVCs. Is this a taste of the future?
We have had a track record of investing with a diverse set of players and we see that as continuing and growing. There are two reasons. More and more corporations and other businesses are starting venture capital arms, as well as venture investments coming from family offices and other investors, and some of our investments – particularly in the digital realm – cut across industry verticals and thus attract a wide range of interested investors.
What is special about the Houstonian and broader Texan venture ecosystem? How is Chevron helping support and grow the venturing and innovations there?
I will speak to Houston as a city. We have developed a vision and comprehensive strategic plan for growing the innovation ecosystem. It is inclusive rather than being focused on venture-backed startups. It draws on collaboration between government, universities, startups, investors and corporations.
We have a huge number of corporations with a presence in Houston that can provide a built-in customer base for startups, if we have the right relationships. That has not always been done in the past. There is still much that we have to do about it. We have been punching below our weight but there is momentum. And when Houston goes for it, great things happen.
Thanks for supporting our conference again this year. What are your expectations? What should be our objectives and ambitions?
We are happy to see you active in Houston. I do not think your activities should be confined to the west and east coasts. There is a lot happening here. The event should mimic the ecosystem and its inclusiveness. We should include all aspects of the energy vertical, by which I mean all sources, and from generation to use. We need diverse panels, from different parts of the ecosystem so that people from outside the corporations can see how they can plug in.
Fundamentally, we need to be forward-looking. Houston has a great legacy. We put a man on the moon, we have a great history in oil and gas. But we now need to look forward to where the economy is going overall, as well as in our strong sectors of energy, life sciences and space.
You are one of the few women at the top of the CVC industry. What is your advice for corporate VCs seeking to employ more women, and what is your advice for women who want to work in energy venturing?
I think of myself as working in energy more than the corporate venture capital industry, as I have had a long career in Chevron, with the past five years as the president of our technology ventures company. But my advice is no different. For companies, the best way to be inclusive is to be inclusive. When prospective or new employees look up, do they see people that look like them? Second, when they look up and they see people that look different, are those people welcoming? That is diversity and inclusion.
We are working hard on this at Chevron in many dimensions, and while we have made progress, we are not there yet. I view one of my most important responsibilities – and one of my most rewarding ones – as making progress in this area.